Augmented reality virtual monitor

ABSTRACT

A head-mounted display includes a see-through display and a virtual reality engine. The see-through display is configured to visually augment an appearance of a physical space to a user viewing the physical space through the see-through display. The virtual reality engine is configured to cause the see-through display to visually present a virtual monitor that appears to be integrated with the physical space to a user viewing the physical space through the see-through display.

BACKGROUND

Televisions, computer displays, movie screens, and other video monitorsprovide visual information to users. A conventional video monitor islimited by a variety of different physical constraints, such as thephysical size of the monitor and the physical locations at which themonitor may be positioned.

SUMMARY

A head-mounted display includes a see-through display and a virtualreality engine. The see-through display is configured to visuallyaugment an appearance of a physical space to a user viewing the physicalspace through the see-through display. The virtual reality engine isconfigured to cause the see-through display to visually present avirtual monitor that appears to be integrated with the physical space toa user viewing the physical space through the see-through display.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore,the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solveany or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example head-mounted display in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2A shows a top view of a user wearing a head-mounted display in aphysical space.

FIG. 2B shows an unaltered first-person perspective of the user of FIG.2A.

FIG. 2C shows a first-person perspective of the user of FIG. 2A whilethe head-mounted display augments reality to visually present virtualmonitors.

FIG. 3 is an example method of augmenting reality in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an example computing system in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a nonlimiting example of a head-mounted display 100including a see-through display 102. See-through display 102 is at leastpartially transparent, thus allowing light to pass through thesee-through display to the eyes of a user. Furthermore, the see-throughdisplay is configured to visually augment an appearance of a physicalspace to a user viewing the physical space through the see-throughdisplay. For example, the see-through display may display virtualobjects that the user can see when the user looks through thesee-through display. As such, the user is able to view the virtualobjects that do not exist within the physical space at the same timethat the user views the physical space. This creates the illusion thatthe virtual objects are part of the physical space.

Head-mounted display 100 also includes a virtual reality engine 104. Thevirtual reality engine 104 is configured to cause the see-throughdisplay to visually present a virtual object in the form of a virtualmonitor. The virtual monitor can simulate the appearance of a real worldtelevision, computer display, movie screen, and/or other monitor. To auser viewing the physical space through the see-through display, thevirtual monitor appears to be integrated with the physical space. Inthis way, the user is able to view a monitor that is not actuallypresent in the physical space. Virtual reality engine may includesoftware, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof.

FIG. 2A schematically shows a top view of user 200 wearing head-mounteddisplay 100 within a physical space 202. Lines 204 a and 204 b indicatethe field of view of the user through the see-through display of thehead-mounted display. FIG. 2A also shows the real world objects 206 a,206 b, 206 c, and 206 d within physical space 202 that are in the fieldof view of the user 200.

FIG. 2B shows a first-person perspective of the user 200 viewing realworld objects 206 a, 206 b, 206 c, and 206 d through the head-mounteddisplay. In FIG. 2B, the virtual reality engine of the head-mounteddisplay is not visually presenting virtual objects. As such, the user isonly able to see the real world objects. The user sees such real worldobjects because light reflecting from the real world objects is able topass through the see-through display to the eyes of the user.

FIG. 2C shows the same first-person perspective of the user 200 but withthe virtual reality engine visually presenting virtual objects. Inparticular, the virtual reality engine is visually presenting a virtualmonitor 208 a, a virtual monitor 208 b, and virtual monitor 208 c. Fromthe perspective of the user, the virtual monitors appear to beintegrated with the physical space 202.

In particular, FIG. 2C shows virtual monitor 208 a rendered to appear asif the virtual monitor is mounted to a wall 210—a typical mountingoption for conventional televisions. Virtual monitor 208 b is renderedto appear as if the virtual monitor is resting on table surface 212—atypical usage for conventional tablet computing devices. Virtual monitor208 c is rendered to appear as if floating in free space—an arrangementthat is not easily achieved with conventional monitors.

Virtual monitor 208 a, virtual monitor 208 b, and virtual monitor 208 care provided as nonlimiting examples. A virtual monitor may be renderedto have virtually any appearance without departing from the scope ofthis disclosure.

As one example, a virtual monitor may be playing a video stream ofmoving or static images. A video stream of moving images may be playedat a relatively high frame rate so as to create the illusion of liveaction. As a nonlimiting example, a video stream of a television programmay be played at thirty frames per second. A video stream of staticimages may present the same image on the virtual monitor for arelatively longer period of time. As a nonlimiting example, a videostream of a photo slideshow may only change images every five seconds.It is to be understood that virtually any frame rate may be used withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure.

As another example, a virtual monitor may be opaque (e.g., virtualmonitor 208 a and virtual monitor 208 b) or partially transparent (e.g.,virtual monitor 208 c). An opaque virtual monitor may be rendered so asto occlude real world objects that appear to be behind the virtualmonitor. A partially transparent virtual monitor may be rendered so thatreal world objects or other virtual objects can be viewed through thevirtual monitor.

As another example, a virtual monitor may be frameless (e.g., virtualmonitor 208 c) or framed (e.g., virtual monitor 208 a and virtualmonitor 208 b). A frameless virtual monitor may be rendered with anedge-to-edge screen portion that can play a video stream without anyother structure rendered around the screen portion. In contrast, aframed virtual monitor may be rendered to include a frame around thescreen. Such a frame may be rendered so as to resemble the appearance ofa conventional television frame, computer display frame, movie screenframe, or the like.

Both frameless and framed virtual monitors may be rendered without anydepth. For example, when viewed from an angle, a depthless virtualmonitor will not appear to have any structure behind the surface of thescreen (e.g., virtual monitor 208 c). Furthermore, both frameless andframed virtual monitors may be rendered with a depth, such that whenviewed from an angle the virtual monitor will appear to occupy spacebehind the surface of the screen (virtual monitor 208 b).

As another example, a virtual monitor may include a rectangular ornonrectangular screen. Furthermore, the screen may be planar ornon-planar. In some embodiments, the screen of a virtual monitor may beshaped to match the planar or non-planar shape of a real world object ina physical space (e.g., virtual monitor 208 a and virtual monitor 208 b)or to match the planar or non-planar shape of another virtual object.Even when a planar screen is rendered, the video stream rendered on theplanar screen may be configured to display three-dimensional virtualobjects (e.g., to create the illusion of watching a three-dimensiontelevision). Three-dimensional virtual objects may be accomplished viasimulated stereoscopic 3D content—e.g. watching 3D content from a 3Drecording so that content appears in 2D and on the plane of the display,but the user's left and right eyes see slightly different views of thevideo, producing a 3D effect. In some implementations, playback ofcontent may cause virtual 3D objects to actually leave the plane of thedisplay. For example, a movie where the menus actually pop out of the TVinto the user's living room. Further, a frameless virtual monitor may beused to visually present three-dimensional virtual objects from thevideo stream, thus creating the illusion that the contents of the videostream are playing out in the physical space environment.

As another example, the virtual monitor may be rendered in a stationarylocation relative to real world objects in the physical space, or thevirtual monitor may be rendered so as to move relative to real worldobjects. A stationary virtual monitor may appear to be fixed to a wall,table, or other surface, for example. A stationary virtual monitor mayalso appear to be floating apart from any real world objects.

A moving virtual monitor may appear to move in a constrained orunconstrained fashion. For example, a virtual monitor may be constrainedto a physical wall, but the virtual monitor may move along the wall as auser walks by the wall. As another example, a virtual monitor may beconstrained to a moving object. As yet another example, a virtualmonitor may not be constrained to any physical objects and may appear tofloat directly in front of a user regardless of where the user looks.

A virtual monitor may be either a private virtual monitor or a publicvirtual monitor. A private virtual monitor is rendered on only onesee-through display so only the user viewing the physical space throughthe see-through display sees the virtual monitor. A public virtualmonitor may be concurrently rendered on one or more other devices,including other see-through displays, so that other people may view aclone of the virtual monitor.

In some embodiments, the virtual reality engine may be configured to mapa virtual coordinate system to the physical space such that the virtualmonitor appears to be at a particular physical-space location.Furthermore, the virtual coordinate system may be a shared coordinatesystem useable by one or more other head-mounted displays. In such acase, each separate head-mounted display may recognize the same physicalspace location where the virtual monitor is to appear. Each head-mounteddisplay may then render the virtual monitor at that physical spacelocation so that two or more users viewing the physical space locationthrough different see-through displays will see the same virtual monitorin the same place and with the same orientation. In other words, theparticular physical-space location at which one head-mounted displayrenders a virtual object will be the same physical-space location thatanother head-mounted display renders the virtual monitor.

Turning back to FIG. 1, head-mounted display 100 may optionally includeone or more speakers 106—e.g., two speakers to enable stereo soundeffects such as positional audio hints. In other embodiments, thehead-mounted display may be communicatively coupled to an off-boardspeaker. In either case, the virtual reality engine may be configured tocause such a speaker to play an audio stream that is synced to a videostream played by a virtual monitor. For example, while virtual monitor208 a of FIG. 2C plays a video stream in the form of a televisionprogram, a speaker may play an audio stream that constitutes the audiocomponent of the television program.

The volume of an audio stream may be modulated in accordance with avariety of different parameters. As one example, the rendering enginemay be configured to modulate a volume of the audio stream inverselyproportional to a distance between the see-through display and aphysical-space location at which the virtual monitor appears to belocated to a user viewing the physical space through the see-throughdisplay. In other words, sound can be localized so that as a user getscloser to the virtual monitor, the volume of the virtual monitor willincrease. As another example, the rendering engine may be configured tomodulate a volume of the audio stream in proportion to a directness thatthe see-through display is viewing a physical-space location at whichthe virtual monitor appears to be located to the user viewing thephysical space through the see-through display. In other words, thevolume increases as the user more directly looks at the virtual monitor.

When two or more virtual monitors are mapped to positions near a user,the respective audio streams associated with the virtual monitors may bemixed together or played independently. When mixed together, therelative contribution of any particular audio stream may be weightedbased on a variety of different parameters, such as proximity ordirectness of view. For example, the closer a user is to a particularvirtual monitor and/or the more directly the user looks at the virtualmonitor, the louder the volume associated with that virtual monitor willbe played.

When played independently, an audio stream associated with a particularvirtual monitor may be played instead of the audio stream(s) associatedwith other virtual monitor(s) based on a variety of differentparameters, such as proximity and/or directness of view. For example, asa user looks around a physical place in which several virtual monitorsare rendered, only the audio stream associated with the virtual monitorthat is most directly in the user's field of vision may be played. Asdiscussed below, eye tracking may be used to more accurately assesswhere a user's focus is directed, and such focus may serve as aparameter for modulating volume.

Turning briefly to FIG. 1, head-mounted display 100 includes a sensorsubsystem 108. The sensor subsystem may include a variety of differentsensors in different embodiments. As nonlimiting examples, a sensorsubsystem may include a microphone 110, one or more forward-facing (awayfrom user) infrared and/or visible light cameras 112, one or morerearward-facing (towards user) infrared and/or visible light cameras114. The forward-facing camera(s) may include one or more depth cameras,and/or the rearward-facing cameras may include one or more eye-trackingcameras. In some embodiments, an onboard sensor subsystem maycommunicate with one or more off-board sensors that send observationinformation to the onboard sensor subsystem. For example, a depth cameraused by a gaming console may send depth maps and/or modeled virtualskeletons to the sensor subsystem of the head-mounted display.

The virtual reality engine may be configured to control a virtualmonitor responsive to commands recognized via the sensor subsystem. Asnonlimiting examples, commands recognized via the sensor subsystem maybe used to control virtual monitor creation, virtual monitor positioning(e.g., where and how large virtual monitors appear); playback controls(e.g., which content is visually presented, fast forward, rewind, pause,etc.); volume of audio associated with virtual monitor; privacy settings(e.g., who is allowed to see clone virtual monitors; what such peopleare allowed to see); screen capture, sending, printing, and saving;and/or virtually any other aspect of a virtual monitor.

As introduced above, a sensor subsystem may include or be configured tocommunicate with one or more different types of sensors, and eachdifferent type of sensor may be used to recognize commands forcontrolling a virtual monitor. As nonlimiting examples, the virtualreality engine may be configured to control the virtual monitorresponsive to audible commands recognized via a microphone, hand gesturecommands recognized via a camera, and/or eye gesture commands recognizedvia a camera.

The types of commands and the way that such commands control the virtualmonitors may vary without departing from the scope of this disclosure.To create a virtual monitor, for instance, a forward-facing camera mayrecognize a user framing a scene with an imaginary rectangle between aleft hand in the shape of an L and a right hand in the shape of an L.When this painter's gesture with the L-shaped hands is made, a locationand size of a new virtual monitor may be established by projecting arectangle from the eyes of the user to the rectangle established by thepainter's gesture, and on to a wall behind the painter's gesture.

As another example, the location and size of a new virtual monitor maybe established by recognizing a user tapping a surface to establish thecorners of a virtual monitor. As yet another example, a user may speakthe command “new monitor,” and a virtual monitor may be rendered on asurface towards which eye-tracking cameras determine a user is looking.

Once a virtual monitor is rendered and playing a video stream, a usermay speak commands such as “pause,” “fast forward,” “change channel,”etc. to control the video stream. As another example, the user may makea stop-sign hand gesture to pause playback, swipe a hand from left toright to fast forward, or twist an outstretched hand to change achannel. As yet another example, a user may speak “split” or make akarate chop gesture to split a single virtual monitor into two virtualmonitors that may be moved to different physical space locations.

Returning briefly to FIG. 1, head-mounted display 100 may include one ormore features that allow the head-mounted display to be worn on a user'shead. In the illustrated example, head-mounted display 100 takes theform of eye glasses and includes a nose rest 116 and ear rests 118 a and118 b. In other embodiments, a head-mounted display may include a hat orhelmet with an in-front-of-the-face see-through visor. Furthermore,while described in the context of a head-mounted see-through display,the concepts described herein may be applied to see-through displaysthat are not head mounted (e.g., a windshield) and to displays that arenot see-through (e.g., an opaque display that renders real objectsobserved by a camera with virtual objects not within the camera's fieldof view).

Head-mounted display 100 may also include a communication subsystem 120.Communication subsystem 120 may be configured to communicate with one ormore off-board computing devices. As an example, the communicationsubsystem may be configured to wirelessly receive a video stream, audiostream, coordinate information, virtual object descriptions, and/orother information to render a virtual monitor.

FIG. 3 shows an example method 300 of augmenting reality. At 302, method300 includes receiving observation information of a physical space froma sensor subsystem. The observation information may include anyinformation describing the physical space. As nonlimiting examples,images from one or more cameras and/or audio information from one ormore microphones may be received. The information may be received fromsensors that are part of a head-mounted display and/or off-board sensorsthat are not part of a head-mounted display. The information may bereceived at a head-mounted display or at an off-board device thatcommunicates with a head-mounted display.

At 304 method 300 includes mapping a virtual reality environment to thephysical space based on the observation information, wherein the virtualreality environment includes a virtual monitor visually presenting avideo stream. Such mapping may be performed by a virtual reality enginethat is part of a head-mounted display or an off-board device thatcommunicates with a head-mounted display.

At 306, method 300 includes sending augmented reality displayinformation to a see-through display. The augmented reality displayinformation is configured to cause the see-through display to displaythe virtual reality environment mapped to the physical space so that auser viewing the physical space through the see-through display sees thevirtual monitor integrated with the physical space. The augmentedreality display information may be sent to the see-through display froma virtual reality engine that is part of a head-mounted display or anoff-board device that communicates with a head-mounted display.

In some embodiments, the above described augmented reality techniquesmay be tied to a computing system that is integrated into a head-mounteddisplay and/or a computing system that is configured to communicate witha head-mounted display. In particular, the methods and processesdescribed herein may be implemented as a computer application, computerservice, computer API, computer library, and/or other computer programproduct.

FIG. 4 schematically shows a nonlimiting computing system 400 that mayperform one or more of the above described methods and processes.Computing system 400 is shown in simplified form. It is to be understoodthat virtually any computer architecture may be used without departingfrom the scope of this disclosure. In different embodiments, computingsystem 400 may take the form of an onboard head-mounted displaycomputer, mainframe computer, server computer, desktop computer, laptopcomputer, tablet computer, home entertainment computer, networkcomputing device, mobile computing device, mobile communication device,gaming device, etc.

Computing system 400 includes a logic subsystem 402 and a data-holdingsubsystem 404. Computing system 400 may optionally include a displaysubsystem 406, audio subsystem 408, sensor subsystem 410, communicationsubsystem 412, and/or other components not shown in FIG. 4.

Logic subsystem 402 may include one or more physical devices configuredto execute one or more instructions. For example, the logic subsystemmay be configured to execute one or more instructions that are part ofone or more applications, services, programs, routines, libraries,objects, components, data structures, or other logical constructs. Suchinstructions may be implemented to perform a task, implement a datatype, transform the state of one or more devices, or otherwise arrive ata desired result.

The logic subsystem may include one or more processors that areconfigured to execute software instructions. Additionally oralternatively, the logic subsystem may include one or more hardware orfirmware logic machines configured to execute hardware or firmwareinstructions. Processors of the logic subsystem may be single core ormulticore, and the programs executed thereon may be configured forparallel or distributed processing. The logic subsystem may optionallyinclude individual components that are distributed throughout two ormore devices, which may be remotely located and/or configured forcoordinated processing. One or more aspects of the logic subsystem maybe virtualized and executed by remotely accessible networked computingdevices configured in a cloud computing configuration.

Data-holding subsystem 404 may include one or more physical,non-transitory, devices configured to hold data and/or instructionsexecutable by the logic subsystem to implement the herein describedmethods and processes. When such methods and processes are implemented,the state of data-holding subsystem 404 may be transformed (e.g., tohold different data).

Data-holding subsystem 404 may include removable media and/or built-indevices. Data-holding subsystem 404 may include optical memory devices(e.g., CD, DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray Disc, etc.), semiconductor memorydevices (e.g., RAM, EPROM, EEPROM, etc.) and/or magnetic memory devices(e.g., hard disk drive, floppy disk drive, tape drive, MRAM, etc.),among others. Data-holding subsystem 404 may include devices with one ormore of the following characteristics: volatile, nonvolatile, dynamic,static, read/write, read-only, random access, sequential access,location addressable, file addressable, and content addressable. In someembodiments, logic subsystem 402 and data-holding subsystem 404 may beintegrated into one or more common devices, such as an applicationspecific integrated circuit or a system on a chip.

FIG. 4 also shows an aspect of the data-holding subsystem in the form ofremovable computer-readable storage media 414, which may be used tostore and/or transfer data and/or instructions executable to implementthe herein described methods and processes. Removable computer-readablestorage media 414 may take the form of CDs, DVDs, HD-DVDs, Blu-RayDiscs, EEPROMs, and/or floppy disks, among others.

It is to be appreciated that data-holding subsystem 404 includes one ormore physical, non-transitory devices. In contrast, in some embodimentsaspects of the instructions described herein may be propagated in atransitory fashion by a pure signal (e.g., an electromagnetic signal, anoptical signal, etc.) that is not held by a physical device for at leasta finite duration. Furthermore, data and/or other forms of informationpertaining to the present disclosure may be propagated by a pure signal.

The terms “module,” “program,” and “engine” may be used to describe anaspect of computing system 400 that is implemented to perform one ormore particular functions. In some cases, such a module, program, orengine may be instantiated via logic subsystem 402 executinginstructions held by data-holding subsystem 404. It is to be understoodthat different modules, programs, and/or engines may be instantiatedfrom the same application, service, code block, object, library,routine, API, function, etc. Likewise, the same module, program, and/orengine may be instantiated by different applications, services, codeblocks, objects, routines, APIs, functions, etc. The terms “module,”“program,” and “engine” are meant to encompass individual or groups ofexecutable files, data files, libraries, drivers, scripts, databaserecords, etc.

When included, display subsystem 406 may be used to present a visualrepresentation of data held by data-holding subsystem 404. As the hereindescribed methods and processes change the data held by the data-holdingsubsystem, and thus transform the state of the data-holding subsystem,the state of display subsystem 406 may likewise be transformed tovisually represent changes in the underlying data. Display subsystem 406may include one or more display devices utilizing virtually any type oftechnology. Such display devices may be combined with logic subsystem402 and/or data-holding subsystem 404 in a shared enclosure (e.g., ahead-mounted display with onboard computing), or such display devicesmay be peripheral display devices (a head-mounted display with off-boardcomputing).

As one nonlimiting example, the display subsystem may includeimage-producing elements (e.g. see-through OLED displays) located withinlenses of a head-mounted display. As another example, the displaysubsystem may include a light modulator on an edge of a lens, and thelens may serve as a light guide for delivering light from the lightmodulator to an eye of a user. In either case, because the lenses are atleast partially transparent, light may pass through the lenses to theeyes of a user, thus allowing the user to see through the lenses.

Audio subsystem 408 may include or be configured to utilize one or morespeakers for playing audio streams and/or other sounds as discussedabove.

The sensor subsystem may include and/or be configured to communicatewith a variety of different sensors. For example, the head-mounteddisplay may include at least one inward facing sensor and/or at leastone outward facing sensor. The inward facing sensor may be an eyetracking image sensor configured to acquire image data to allow aviewer's eyes to be tracked. The outward facing sensor may detectgesture-based user inputs. For example, an outwardly facing sensor mayinclude a depth camera, a visible light camera, or another positiontracking camera. Further, such outwardly facing cameras may have astereo configuration. For example, the head-mounted display may includetwo depth cameras to observe the physical space in stereo from twodifferent angles of the user's perspective. In some embodiments,gesture-based user inputs also may be detected via one or more off-boardcameras.

Further, an outward facing image sensor may capture images of a physicalspace, which may be provided as input to an onboard or off-board 3Dmodeling system. A 3D modeling system may be used to generate a 3D modelof the physical space. Such 3D modeling may be used to localize aprecise position of a head-mounted display in a physical space so thatvirtual monitors may be rendered so as to appear in precise locationsrelative to the physical space. Furthermore, 3D modeling may be used toaccurately identify real world surfaces to which virtual monitors can beconstrained. To facilitate such 3D modeling, the sensor subsystem mayoptionally include an infrared projector to assist in structured lightand/or time of flight depth analysis.

The sensor subsystem may also include one or more motion sensors todetect movements of a viewer's head when the viewer is wearing thehead-mounted display. Motion sensors may output motion data for trackingviewer head motion and eye orientation, for example. As such, motiondata may facilitate detection of tilts of the user's head along roll,pitch and/or yaw axes. Further, motion sensors may enable a position ofthe head-mounted display to be determined and/or refined. Likewise,motion sensors may also be employed as user input devices, such that auser may interact with the head-mounted display via gestures of theneck, head, or body. Non-limiting examples of motion sensors include anaccelerometer, a gyroscope, a compass, and an orientation sensor.Further, the HMD device may be configured with global positioning system(GPS) capabilities.

The sensor subsystem may also include one or more microphones to allowthe use of voice commands as user inputs.

When included, communication subsystem 412 may be configured tocommunicatively couple computing system 400 with one or more othercomputing devices. Communication subsystem 412 may include wired and/orwireless communication devices compatible with one or more differentcommunication protocols. As nonlimiting examples, the communicationsubsystem may be configured for communication via a wireless telephonenetwork, a wireless local area network, a wired local area network, awireless wide area network, a wired wide area network, etc. In someembodiments, the communication subsystem may allow computing system 400to send and/or receive messages to and/or from other devices via anetwork such as the Internet.

It is to be understood that the configurations and/or approachesdescribed herein are exemplary in nature, and that these specificembodiments or examples are not to be considered in a limiting sense,because numerous variations are possible. The specific routines ormethods described herein may represent one or more of any number ofprocessing strategies. As such, various acts illustrated may beperformed in the sequence illustrated, in other sequences, in parallel,or in some cases omitted. Likewise, the order of the above-describedprocesses may be changed.

The subject matter of the present disclosure includes all novel andnonobvious combinations and subcombinations of the various processes,systems and configurations, and other features, functions, acts, and/orproperties disclosed herein, as well as any and all equivalents thereof.

1. A head-mounted display, comprising: a see-through display configuredto visually augment an appearance of a physical space to a user viewingthe physical space through the see-through display; and a virtualreality engine configured to cause the see-through display to visuallypresent a virtual monitor that appears to be integrated with thephysical space to a user viewing the physical space through thesee-through display.
 2. The head-mounted display of claim 1, where thevirtual reality engine is further configured to play a video stream onthe virtual monitor.
 3. The head-mounted display of claim 2, furthercomprising a speaker, and where the virtual reality engine is furtherconfigured to cause the speaker to play an audio stream synced to thevideo stream.
 4. The head-mounted display of claim 3, where the virtualreality engine is further configured to modulate a volume of the audiostream inversely proportional to a distance between the see-throughdisplay and a physical-space location at which the virtual monitorappears to be located to the user viewing the physical space through thesee-through display.
 5. The head-mounted display of claim 3, where thevirtual reality engine is further configured to modulate a volume of theaudio stream in proportion to a directness that the see-through displayis viewing a physical-space location at which the virtual monitorappears to be located to the user viewing the physical space through thesee-through display.
 6. The head-mounted display of claim 2, furthercomprising a communication subsystem configured to wirelessly receivethe video stream.
 7. The head-mounted display of claim 1, where thevirtual reality engine is further configured to map a virtual coordinatesystem to the physical space such that the virtual monitor appears to beat a particular physical-space location.
 8. The head-mounted display ofclaim 7, where the virtual monitor is a stationary virtual monitor. 9.The head-mounted display of claim 7, where the virtual monitor is amoving virtual monitor.
 10. The head-mounted display of claim 7, wherethe virtual coordinate system is a shared coordinate system, and wherethe particular physical-space location is a same physical-space locationthat another head-mounted display mapping to the shared coordinatesystem displays the virtual monitor.
 11. The head-mounted display ofclaim 1, where the virtual monitor is a public virtual monitor.
 12. Thehead-mounted display of claim 1, where the virtual monitor is a privatevirtual monitor.
 13. The head-mounted display of claim 1, furthercomprising a sensor subsystem, where the virtual reality engine isconfigured to control the virtual monitor responsive to commandsrecognized via the sensor subsystem.
 14. The head-mounted display ofclaim 13, where the sensor subsystem includes a microphone, and wherethe virtual reality engine is configured to control the virtual monitorresponsive to audible commands recognized via the microphone.
 15. Thehead-mounted display of claim 13, where the sensor subsystem includes acamera, and where the virtual reality engine is configured to controlthe virtual monitor responsive to hand gesture commands recognized viathe camera.
 16. The head-mounted display of claim 13, where the sensorsubsystem includes a camera, and where the virtual reality engine isconfigured to control the virtual monitor responsive to eye gesturecommands recognized via the camera.
 17. The head-mounted display ofclaim 1, where the virtual monitor displays three-dimensional virtualobjects.
 18. A method of augmenting reality, the method comprising:receiving observation information of a physical space from a sensorsubsystem; mapping a virtual reality environment to the physical spacebased on the observation information, the virtual reality environmentincluding a virtual monitor visually presenting a video stream; andsending augmented reality display information to a see-through display,the augmented reality display information configured to cause thesee-through display to display the virtual reality environment mapped tothe physical space so that a user viewing the physical space through thesee-through display sees the virtual monitor integrated with thephysical space.
 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising sendingaugmented reality audio information to a speaker, the augmented realityaudio information configured to cause the speaker to play an audiostream synced to the video stream.
 20. A data-holding subsystem holdinginstructions executable by a logic subsystem to: receive observationinformation of a physical space from a sensor subsystem; map a virtualreality environment to the physical space based on the observationinformation, the virtual reality environment including a virtual monitorvisually presenting dynamic display information; and send augmentedreality display information to a see-through display, the augmentedreality display information configured to cause the see-through displayto display the virtual reality environment mapped to the physical spaceso that a user viewing the physical space through the see-throughdisplay sees the virtual monitor integrated with the physical space.